Spring suspension for vehicles



E. J. L. GAUTHIER. SPRING SUSPENSION FOR VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 2,1 20- Patented Aug. 15

1922. 3 SHEETSSHEET I.

:ZiTIff E. J. L. GAUTHIER. SPRING susrsnslou roe VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 2. I920- Patented Aug. 15, 1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

E. J. L. GAUTHIER. SPRING SUSPENSION FOR VEHICLES.

'APPLICATION FILED JULY 2.1920.

Patented Aug. 15; 1922.

3 SHEETS-*SHEET 3.

UNITED STATES 511131110111) iiiAiv LEoiv eiiii'rmnii, or Pimis, iit'Aiiii.

seems Se re-germ Foe seem 1 r." :nw'i ".1 H' '21 3" Specification of Letters Patent. Patented A g 15 Applietion "filed Jilly 1920,. s rial No. 3933M. V T

(GRANTED vnnnit Tiii: Revisions '01 111E Adi or time s, 1921, 41 sm, L1, 1313.

T a all whom it may y s p Be it known vthat I], ED OND JEA LEON GAUTH R, a citizen oif Fra'nce, residing at which the shock Ieoeiv'ed, by the wheels are suitably eqiiilibrfatedend thus reducedjto Zero, This result is obtained by transform: i g the e ical shocks. i to. tw eq a an direc l pposite means of elevei' act ng t th same. imevviipdh ,opppsiel'y dis.- pjosed plate springs, the longitudinfll and transverse shocks being fch'efi ebs'o'rhefd hy springs mounted upon the ax e of the, vehic'le. H w 1 Th i wm s r p ien e her} w h the accom anylng drawings, whi' ch'eife given way of exam n es forth the Iheensemnl'oyecl for carrying this invention into effeet. In these ,drewings.; the mechanical dis; positions have beensiihplified for the sake of cleerness, but in practice the sever'el i'nernbers are provided with lubricating devices, wil v Wi hli pi f u tjes Well as th dust protecting menib'ers, iiie'ans for adjustm t, n the l e- 7 v l igs, 1 and 2 Show side elevations of different arrangements with a single spring of the double acting type, h p

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of an arrange; n ent employing two springs of the double acting type. i,F,ig -4 e c. three arrangements two single 7 acting springs,iri whichoiie end of each of the said pr Serves s'm as e hru 't n Fig.7 is .21 side elevation oftt disposition employing two half springs of the single acting type, and in which the end ofi the lever arm has mounted thereon the wheel axle with longitudinal shock absorbing members. v Figs, 8 and ho vrespectiv y n w r elevation and in plan with certain portions section, the same method of mounting the axle with longitudinal and transverse shock rb g members. i .1.

" Fig; 10 is a sids elevetion of an. arrange d shcw side awe ome received by Iii'ent cornprising four the Si gl ens t and s win lth'e ifl of the lever another disposition of the wheel axle with longitudinel shock absorbing memb M 1 t F g 11 is e 'plan view with certain parts in sect on, ohthesame disposition oithe axle W1th longitudinal and transverse shock ebs 'b 'gumembers, 1

ig i 12 is a side elevation ofe disposition of the reanexle showing the Ihethod oi mount ng the same by means of shackles. L

x In ,these figures, I a. designates ,the, vehicle Wheel, Z2 the vehicle frame, 0 e bracket having pivoted thereto at the point ql 2t leverarrn f heving the axle of the wheela mounted upon one end thereof; g 9 9 are springs Whose ends are connected to the lever f either by means of shackles [79, h, or by i o llers i i s r n s g? 9. bee meme stres thes ripgs a? 9* b r an ex e si n {is thuri' p gs-i 1 1 7 When subjected to the shocks of the road, the wheel a (Fig. I) whieh is mounted at III/"Will rock the lever on the journald, causing; 1' tl e lever to dive outwardlilflthe roller k which will 5 111 111 the groove is, thus stretching the spring; {/3 exactly at the sense moment that the other end of the level is caused to drew; upon the other spring 9 by meensof the shackle h Since the bearstress wlile the springs g g serve simply 'ing, points of the spring upon thelever are eqljiidista-ntfrom the axis of the latter, the springs of equzil ef ect thusdbesecured in position at the same point, andthe shock the wheel will be transformed at the attaching point Z into two equal thrusts which will be equilibrated, since eccording to rnechanioal principles til 31 3R r ed t he Same m P91 ri i ed with 1 equal force and: in opposite directions. In the preceding exampleythe spring is dis posed; above the lever, but it can also be placed below thelzittiteres ,shown in Fig,

and in this case the operation will'b e the same but in the inverse sense, the spring 9? bearing a tractive stress end the. spring g an extension stress. In this figure the roller under extension stress is replaced by a; shackle k 1 k 1 The arrangement shown in Fig. 3. .con prises two double-actin s rings "placed-in opposition, and the met 0' of eperatieniis the same as in the receding t'is'es. n this arrangement the springs g g are preferably mounted together with the rollers 72/ if, so as to maintain the rollers at a slight distance from the lever for normal load. The rollers will thereby only contact with the lever and in a gradual manner according to the amount of overload, and by this means an automatic variation in flexibility will b'e obtained.

Under the effect of shocks, Fig. l, the springs g will be the only ones acted upon, and will bear. an extension stress, while the springs g g serve simply thrust springs.

Practically the same result can be ob" forms shown in tained by the alternative Figs. 5 and 6, with the springs g l(Fig. bearing an extension stress and the springs g 9 (Fig. 6) a tractive stress. The point at which they are secured to the vehicle frame is in this case disposed below the axis of the lever, thus allowing the use of a longer spring than in the preceding cases, which will afford greater flexibility for the same general's izef The operation is again the same, the effect of the upper spring being compensated by that of the lower spring. The springs and g serve simply as thrustv springs.v The operation of the alternative form shown in Fig. 7 isalso the same; and here the action of the spring 9 subjected to extension stress will compensate that of the spring subjected to tractive stress.

One arrangement for absorbing longitudi- 112.1 and transverse shocks is represented in Figs. 7, 8 and 9. The lever is here provided with a cylindrical extension .9. Figs. 7 and 9; having slidable thereon with easy fric tion a sleeve 7L, a'coiled spring 1" is disposed between one end of this sleeve and the end of'the lever f, mounted between the'other end of'the sleeve and a washers disposed against a nut a screwed upon the threaded end a of the rod s; it being preferable to add to this nut a lock nut s or like member. The sleeve 7% carries a Second bearing a rotatable upon the first by means of pivot mounting p; the bearing 92 has mounted therein the axle 0 and its axle box 0 which are thus adapted to rotate in and to slide upon this member with easy friction, the longitudinal move ments of the bearing with reference to the axle box and the wheel being submitted to the action of the coiled springs u to- (Figs. 8 and 9). t

"In'this arrangement the shocks received by the wheel are transmitted to the members n n and absorbed laterally by the springs u u and longitudinally by the springs r 7 angular movements of the wheelbare allowed inthe vertical sense by the journal 5' and in the horizontal sense by the'member p. In the present case the while a second spring r is axle 0 is disposed above the axis of the lever 7, but it may of course be placed below the same. should this be made necessary; the plate springs g 9 instead of being mounted above the lever 7, can now be placed below the latter in the case of vehicle frame of low ty e, and these two arrangements can be com ined as shown in Fig. 10'.

The spring mounting shown in Fig. 10 comprises four sets of half-springs 9 9 9 9*, this combination aflording a great S011dlty as well as a good distribution of the stresses upon the journal d of the lever. The ends of the lower springs g g are mounted at 7& 72. Z Z me similar manner to the disposition employed for the upper springs. p

The hereinbefore described arrangement for absorbing longitudinal and transverse shocks is not applicable to thecase in which the axes of the vehicle axle and the lever arm are located on or, about the same level, and an alternative form of thisarrangement and applicable to this latter case is shown in Figs. 10 and 11. A casing provided with the slides a has slidable therein with easy friction a bearing 11 carrying the axle box o 'of the axle 0, the movementthereof being submitted to the action of the springs r r whose tension can be adjustedby means of a device of the kind shown diagrammatically at is. On either side of the bearing n are disposed thecoiled springs u u whose function has alreadybeen explained. Thecasing canbe given a swinging movement with reference to'the lever arm, by'means of a socket F, the nut 71 being held in fixed position upon the screw threaded end of the rod s by the pin "7' or in any othersuitable manner. The bearing 72 can be given a swinging movement with reference tothe casing j upon the pivots m. It willbereadily un derstood that this disposition affords, a

-means for obtaining thevarious desired effects.

In the method for mounting the rear axle as shown in Fig. 12, the bearing n is con nected to the member'n by means of the shackles 10 The axle box shown at w is here employed in the same manner as a push and thrust bar, but any like. device of a current type can be used. Under the action of shocks the operation is thesame as for the preceding cases the only difference lying in the use of the shackles .w to connect the membersn and n It is essential to note that the preceding features are in no wise ofa'limitative natn re and that these are susceptible of various additions,- suppressions, combinations or modificationswithout departing from the spirit of the invention. As a particular case. it isallo'wable 'to suppress any desired num r of the plate half-springs and to retain only one, two or three of these which may be rationally or even arbitrarily chosen among the four springs shown in Fig. In each set of two half-springs, latter can be divided into two portions which are disposed in a similar manner but with one portion on each side of the second spring which is thus held between thetwo." The rollers usedwith the'springs which are-sub.- jected to pressure can be replaced by shackles similar to the ones employed for the springs under traction but these rollers can always be advantageously used in the case of the double arrangement shown in Figs. 3"and"l 0 In ase these rollers are only to come into action when under a given weight, the springs will be given a less curved shape in order to allow the rollers to be spaced away from their bearing surfaces in normal working and to come upon the latter only in case of overloads. Moreover, the different arrange-' ments as described or proposed can be employed either separately or in combination. The arrangements set forth in this specification are equally applicable to front and to rear wheels, as well as to chain or to cardan shaft drive.

The wheel which is shown at the end of A the lever arm can other suitable point the axis.

I claim 1. A spring suspension for vehicles, comprising a supporting member mounted below the vehicle frame, a lever pivoted on said member, a vehicle axle mounted on one end of the lever, disposed between the lever and the vehicle frame as to create a return torque.

2. A spring suspension for vehicles, comprising a bracket mounted below the vehicle frame, a lever pivoted on said bracket, a vehicle axle mounted on one end of the lever, a plurality of springs disposed be tween the lever and the vehicle frame, and shackles connecting the ends of the springs to said lever.

3. A spring suspension for vehicles, comprising a bracket mounted below the vehicle frame, a lever pivoted on said bracket,

be mounted upon any thereof situated nearer a vehicle axle mounted on one end of the lever, a plurality of springs disposed between the lever and the vehicle frame, and rollers carried by the ends of the springs and resting on the lever.

4. A spring suspension for vehicles, comprising a bracket mounted below the vehicle frame, a lever pivoted on said bracket, a vehicle axle mounted on one end of the lever, a plurality of springs disposed between the lever and the vehicle frame, a roller interposed between the end of one of the sprin s and said lever, and a shackle connecting t e latter to one of the springs.

5. A spring suspension for vehicles, com+ one of thesev bracket, a vehicle axle mounted pair of plate and plate springs so prising a bracket mounted below the ve- I hicle frame, a lever pivoted on said bracket, a vehicle axle mounted on one. end of the lever, and plate springs disposed above and below the-lever arm.

6. A spring suspension for vehicles come prisin a support mounted below the vehicle frame, a lever arm pivotedon said support, a vehicle axle mounted on one end of the lever, and a plurality of groups of plate springs, disposed between the lever and frame, the attaching *points of said springs being: displaced in sense with. reference to a-vertical line pass ing through the point of articulation ofthe lever arm; .1

7. A'spring suspension for vehicles, comprisin a bracket, mounted below the vehicle rame, a lever arm pivoted on said bracket, a vehicle axle mounted. on oneend of the lever arm, two plate half springs disposed above the lever arm, andtwo plate half-springs disposed below said lever arm,

said springs being attached at points displaced an equal distance on either side of a vertical line passing through the point of articulation of the lever arm.

prisin hicle rame,

on one en of the lever arm, a pair of plate halfsprings disposed above the lever arm, a

half springs disposed below one half spring of each pair into two elements and disside of the secon the lever arm, being divided posed on'each prising a hicle frame, bracket, a vehicle axle mounted on one end of the lever arm, two plate half-springs disposed above the lever arm, and two plate half-springs disposed below, said lever arm, said springs being attached at points displaced an equal distance on either side of a vertical line passing through the point of articulation of the lever arm, and resilient means for absorbing longitudinal shocks. 1

10. Aspring suspension for vehicles, comprising a hicle frame, a lever arm pivoted on said bracket, a vehicle axle mounted on one end of the lever arm, two plate half-springs disposed above the lever arm, and two plate half-springs disposed below said lever arm, said springs being attached at" points d' placed an equal distance on either side of a vertical line passing through the point of articulation of the lever arm, and resilient means for absorbing transverse shocks.

-11. Aspring suspension for vehicles, coml half-spring bracket, mounted belowthe vea bracket, mounted below the ve-,

bracket, a vehicle axle mounted on one end of the lever arm, two plate half-springs disposed above the lever arm, and two plate half-springs disposed below said lever arm, said springs being attached at points displaced an equal distance on either side of a vertical line passing through the point of articulation of the lever arm, and resilient means for absorbing longitudinal shocks, and resilient means for absorbing transverse shocks.

12. Aspring suspension for vehicles,comprising a bracket, mounted below the vehicle frame, a lever arm pivoted on said bracket, a vehicle axle mounted on one end of the lever arm, two plate half-springs disposed above the lever arm, and tWo plate half-spring disposed below said lever arm,

said springs being attached at points dis Witness.

Witness:

CLEMENT S. EDWARDS.

rumour) JEAN LEON GAUTHIER. 

